Community leaders of Lavender Hill and surrounds are calling on leaders to unite as serious social intervention was needed to curb random shootings after the latest shooting occurred when two men were murdered over the weekend.
On Sunday September 25, the body of an unknown man, who sustained gunshot wounds to his face and left hand, was found in Prince George Drive, Retreat, at around 8.30am.
On Saturday September 24, the body of another man, 23, who sustained gunshot wounds to his body, was found in St Alexander Circle in Lavender Hill, at 9.50pm.
Ralph Bouwers, community leader, and founder of Guardians of the National Treasure, said he had been calling on the authorities to intervene to get to the root of the problem of why there are young children and youth involved in shootings. “We have to find alternatives to keep children away from gangsterism and drugs.
“I am keeping the kids busy through soccer tournaments and other sports but once the child turns 16 I have no control over them.”
Mr Bowers said, the youth need the authorities to give them opportunities to continue their sports careers and further their education.
He said shootings take place every day and sometimes if the shooters see him they will back off but “this is the result of poor leadership and community management over a decade,” he said.
“To manage this there will not be a pop-up tent and fix. This will not be remedied unless they invest and bring resources which will not happen, because of two reasons: they don’t have that kind of budget and it’s already a cancer,” said Mr Bowers.
He suggested that role-players should embark on a “10-year intervention plan and dilute the pool”.
“But they lack merit. If they don’t have a vision and understanding, this will not work. A simple example is the locked facility of R110 million, next to Lavender Hill High School, not for community use. Our children need a safe facility to play sports, have something to eat and feel safe.”
Councillor Shanen Rossouw responded, saying: “Unfortunately the community has to pay a tariff to use that facility as it needs to be maintained. The exercise group that uses the facility pays at least R50 a month.”
Aysha Davids, community leader and founder of Women Hope for the Nation, said the intervention needs to come from the social development side as well. “We are dealing with cases where children need to be taken care of. We are sitting with a case where a teenage brother and sister had been left alone at home after the older sibling left them to live with her boyfriend. We are not getting any feedback from social workers. This is the type of problem we are sitting with. These children are alone without adult supervision.”
Mymoena Scholtz, community leader in Vrygrond, who are facing the same issues as the Lavender Hill leaders, said: “We all need to get together with our leaders and the community because none of our areas are safe – our country is not safe.”
Ms Scholtz said: “We need to put our heads together. Yes, we do what needs to be done, but we need new methodologies to break this cycle of generational curses where gangsters are breeding right under our noses. We need to go back to the drawing board,” she said.
Captain Richard Marcus, spokesperson for Steenberg police, said the motives of both attacks were unknown. “So, far no one has been arrested and the cases are still under investigation.”